India, July 11 -- China's recovery of a rocket booster for the first time on Friday - using a net-and-hook system to catch the Long March-10B's returning first stage on a sea platform - has renewed attention on which nations and companies are chasing reusable rocket technology.

China is only the second nation, after the US, to recover an orbital-class rocket booster intact. The company behind Friday's launch, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, is the third in the world to master the feat - after SpaceX's Falcon 9 in 2015, and Blue Origin's New Glenn in November 2025.

India has a programme too, though there's no confirmed timeline for it as yet.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) began working on reusable lau...